Ramblings on Celiac, food allergies, cooking, and food snobbery, with pictures and some recipes. And now with geocentric South Texas goodness.

What WOULD Bekki Eat?

Well, I'll start with what I wouldn't eat. I wouldn't eat margarine. Or tofu. Or lowered-fat anything. Olestra is right out. Hydrolyzed, isolated, evaporated, enriched, or chocolateflavored "phood" won't pass these lips.What will I eat? Real food. Made-at-home food. Food that my great-great-grandmother could have made, if she had the money and the time. And if she hadn't been so busy trick-riding in a most unladylike way.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Banana Bread

I finally got around to trying another banana bread recipe. This one is amazingly healthy and amazingly yummy. I need to figure out how to properly store it, to preserve the just-baked texture, though. I'm noticing that gluten-free baked goods tend to change very quickly from something good to something grainy/crumbly/gummy. I also have to contend with high humidity, so I'm pretty clueless about what to do. Any suggestions?

So, here's the recipe. It may seem odd to you... soak the whole grain? Weird. Why? Because of phytates, and other anti-nutrients. You're probably not eating purely for the fun of it (although it should be fun, too), but to get something out of your food. For grains and seeds, that means soaking first.

Whole Grain Millet Banana Bread

Soak for 7 hours or over night: 1 1/3 C whole millet in 3/4 C of water + 2 T raw apple cider vinegar* and cover. Leave this mixture on the counter in a warm spot.

If you get busy you can refrigerate the mix and use it a day or two later if you need to.

Blend until smooth. You may need to add more liquid to this step. You need to see a vortex in the batter or it won't blend properly. Blending may take 1 to 3 minutes depending on your blender. I'm fairly sure the original recipe intended the bananas to be added whole. My blender couldn't handle that... and I had to fish them out, smash them with a fork, and stir them back in. This made me cranky.

When the mixture is smooth add and stir in: (I did this in the same container I'd soaked in, to make sure I got it mixed in well)

1/2 t of baking soda1 1/2 t of baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Bake in a well-greased pan for 1 hour, lowering the temp to 325 after 30 minutes, if the bread is already quite browned.Pan will be completely full, but that's ok, because the bread won't rise.Cool in the pan for 10 - 20 minutes. Then finish cooling on a wire rack.

* You can also use lemon juice, instead of apple cider vinegar, or if you can handle dairy products, use buttermilk for all the liquid, soured milk the same way, or substitute a couple tablespoons of yogurt for the vinegar/lemon juice. The point is to use something acidic, as it's necessary for the chemical breakdown of phytates.

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About Me

I am many things... all at the same time. (No wonder I don't get much done!) I am a wife to a retired infantryman, mother of 3, stocker (and stalker) of the fridge, passionate fan of food, nutrition, ecology, coffee, wine, and college football.
I love all things witchy and piratey.
I often cook with booze.
I feed stray cats.
I don't believe in sunscreen.
I don't like shoes and really hate socks. And I currently can't eat any gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, coconut(!?), or sodium metabisulfite (aw, shucks, no chemical snackies.) Sometimes even citric acid gets me. But only sometimes.